MADISON, Wis. – Madison’s nine public libraries could reopen for the first time in more than a year, pending the decision of a governing board.
The board will meet this week to decide whether to open each building – a tentative opening date is slated for April 19.
“The majority of our staff are feeling pretty safe and comfortable in this and have wanted to connect with customers more,” said marketing manager Tana Elias. “We’re an organization that really loves working with people.”
A nine person board will be responsible for making the decision. Should the libraries open again, they would require masks and limit capacity to comply with public health guidelines.
“People will be able to benefit from being able to walk in and choose the items that they’re interested in instead of having to call somebody and place those items on hold,” Elias said.
While closed for more than a year, the libraries have worked to provide curbside service as well as computing service. Elias said a reopening was considered in the fall of 2020, but rising case counts in the Madison community put a stop to the plan.
“I see a lot of social media comments and we get email testimonials about ‘Gosh, I can’t wait to come back to the library’, so I’m excited to see other people be excited to come back to the space,” she said.
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